Master Drawings is now accepting submissions for the eighth Annual Ricciardi Prize of $5,000. The award is given for the best new and unpublished article on a drawing topic (of any period) by a scholar under the age of 40. The winning submission will be published in a 2026 issue of Master Drawings. In addition to the prize money, the winner and runner up are invited as guests to present their respective research at the Master Drawings annual symposium in New York in January 2026.
Submissions
All submissions must be in article form, following the format of the journal. Please refer to Master Drawings’ Submission Requirements for additional information. Submissions of seminar papers, dissertation chapters, or other written material that have not been adapted into the format of a journal article will not be considered. Written material that has been previously published, or is scheduled for future publication, will not be eligible either. Articles may be submitted in any language.
The average length for a submission is between 2,500 and 3,750 words, with five to 20 illustrations. Submissions should be no longer than 7,500 words and have no more than 75 footnotes. Candidates have to include a 100-word abstract outlining the scope of their article, an illustrated caption list (in pdf or PowerPoint format), and image files. Besides, submissions should include a current C.V. or resume and candidates should note their birth date.
Submissions can be send by email to administrator@masterdrawings.org with the subject line Ricciardi Prize Submission, by WeTransfer (or similar file transfer service), or by uploading the materials using Master Drawing’s online form. The deadline is 15 November 2025.
Winner of the Seventh Annual Ricciardi Prize
This year’s winner is Olivia Dill, a PhD candidate at Northwestern University and current Moore Curatorial Fellow at the Morgan Library & Museum. With her prize-winning research, she assigned a previously anonymous watercolor of three insects, including an iridescent Rhinoceros beetle native to Brazil, to Pieter Holsteyn II (1614-1673). Besides, she used an interdisciplinary approach and technical analysis of several blue pigments, particularly smalt (ground cobalt and glass), to shed light on the artist’s color choices and his efforts to translate the beetle’s iridescence on a sheet of paper.